Health & Fitness
Field Trip: Indian Summer
Field Trip adventures with the North Park Elementary students.
I had the opportunity to join the North Park Elementary fourth and fifth graders on a field trip to Indian Summer at the Summerfest park in Milwaukee. What a day!
Our first event was the pow-wow. We had the privilege of watching talented dancers (as young as three years old!) demonstrate different dances.
At the end of the program, our hosts invited a select few teachers to come up and learn for themselves how to perform these traditional dances. Kids stood and cheered, all pointing at their respective leaders and hoping that their own teachers would be chosen. From North Park, Mrs. V was chosen!
There was a short period of instruction for the competitors (after all, this would be a competition, not a simple display of the teachers' skills). Then the drums began, rhythmically beating faster and faster, the Native American hosts singing louder and hundreds of students clapping and cheering. The excitement and cheers grew and grew as Mrs. V danced her heart out, the drums beating louder... faster... the sun hotter by the moment and hundreds of children cheering her on. All of the teachers danced, feet moving faster and faster, arms stretching out and keeping time to the music. Then, suddenly, it was over. The winner would be decided by applause, and as the judges moved from one contestant to the next, the cheers grew louder. North Park's students stood and added their voices and clapping to the mix, Mrs. V was victorious and won tickets to return again to Indian Summer. That was all before lunch!
We spent the rest of the day moving from one village to another, exploring Native American crafts and art, examining furs, and learning about different tools they used.
At the very end the kids had a chance to play lacrosse, and as a chaperone, I have to say that this felt like the riskiest part of the entire day. Kids running at full speed with sticks in their hands and determined to get to the ball before the rest of the mob... It seemed to spell disaster, but there was none of that. Just cheering on our team, cheering for the goals made, and lots of congratulations as the kids came off the field.
